A metalhead and a thief

It is time for an Ellie-ism post!  The other week I was regaling my therapist with tales of Ellie's shenanigans.  As she sat there laughing and I was tearing up from the sheer craziness of it all, I realized that I had my next blog post.  Given the crap going on in our lives and the emotional instability that The Bear is currently enduring, I realized that it is time to embrace the humor in these antics.

Definitely not auditioning for The Voice

*Don't Cry by Guns N Roses playing in background* along with the sounds of a dying baby seagull.

Drew: What is going on?  What is wrong?

Me:*tries hard not to laugh* Ellie fancies herself to be a rockstar.

Do y'all hear that?   The sound of a cat being strangled while being submerged in water during a bath?  That would be the sound of my daughter "singing".  Girlfriend is trying to channel Axl Rose and Robert Plant.

Ellie has been experiencing some emotional outbursts.  These are extreme reactions to things that she cannot seem to pull herself out of.  You cannot rationalize with her and as fast as it starts, it suddenly ends.  It is devastating to watch and unfortunately a few of these outbursts have resulted in me getting bitten or hit.

One (or many) such outbursts have recently occurred in the car when the "wrong" song comes on.  The screaming, the big crocodile tears, and kicking the back of the car seat occurs when I skip one of her favorite songs.  Mind you, I had no idea these were her favorite songs, but this led me to create a 5 song playlist on her iPad in hopes it would get her to chill out.  These songs have been on repeat.

Ellie's Playlist:

Lost It All - Black Veil Brides
In The End - Black Veil Brides
Don't Cry - GNR
Love The Way You Hate Me - Like A Storm
The Devil Inside - Like A Storm


hmmm. . . . perhaps it is good that she can't repeat these words nor understand what the artists are singing.

All in the Name of Fashion

100 degrees out and she insisted on leg warms on both her legs and arms. 

Princess Sticky Fingers

How many of y'all every had a kiddo steal something?  Or maybe you lifted something when you were really little?  Twinkletoes seems to think the drop in day care [Kidspa] is a borrowing facility.  She would be incorrect.  It started off with me finding the random block in her lunchbox or backpack.  I'd talk to her and then make her bring it back telling her "not yours and that's stealing".

I started to search her backpack and lunchbox before leaving Kidspa.  Then. . . well, let's see if I can type this with a straight face. Actually, let me preface this with Ellie wears leggings and as such doesn't have pockets so she improvises.  She is now attempting to walk out of the daycare with items shoved into the waist band of her pants. The first time, we all died laughing.  It was so obvious she was trying to pilfer toys.  She was trying to loot a broken shovel, sunglasses, and a block.  The staff was dying because it was just too funny. I got over being mortified and tried to contain my own laughter.  No need to reinforce this behavior.  Now I walk into Kidspa and say:

Ellie, you are going to listen to your friends, keep hands to self, and not steal!

The Stinker Butt isn't heeding my advice.  The last time, I even patted down her waistband and she still managed to steal a toy.  She comes home, runs to her room, and whips out a magnifying glass!

The Stink Eye

Bear-itude

This kid is killing me with the yelling "no" while crossing her arms and stomping her foot.  She's like a teenager!

Breaking and Entering 

Ellie Bear seems to be headed down a dangerous path here.  The setting: speech therapy waiting room.  For speech and OT, there is a big waiting room and then two locked doors that lead to the therapy rooms and gym.  As I am talking to the speech pathologist before therapy starts, Ellie reaches into her waistband and whips out her backpack tag (it's like a luggage tag/card).  She runs up to the door and tries to "scan" her tag.  That pretty much had the entire waiting room in stitches.  I guess Turkey Bear was really excited about therapy.  Sadly, her backpack tag didn't unlock the door.

First day of 4th grade.

The Little Parrot

Ellie's speech has exploded over the past few months so she is repeating a lot of words that we say.  They are not clear to most people, but for the most part I can understand about 50%.  Little Miss hasn't quite grasped the meaning of pronouns in verbal language, but she seems to understand what "not yours" means.  If she wants something - i.e. she wishes to ride in she random car in the parking lot, wants a toy, or contemplates taking Andrew's sunglasses, etc - she taps it and tells herself "not yours. . . Daddy's!". (I am always chopped liver).  Her newest is if it isn't' something we want her to do (i.e. color the table), she yells:

"Ah ah!  No ma'am, not yours!"

So parents, if you are wondering if your kids pick up things you do and say - they do!

Someone Thinks She's 

A Swimsuit Model

There you have it. . . a short list of the most recent Ellie Antics.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

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CAMP Camp - a fun experience for those with disabilities and their siblings

It has been  a wild and crazy summer for us.  One full of fun, a bunch of doctors' appointment for me, swimming, and camp.  Last year, Ellie attended an overnight camp for children with special needs.  To say I was anxious was an understatement.  Would she be homesick?  Could they handle her medical issues?  I need not have worried, because last year, when we went to pick her up - the cheeky little monkey ran up to Andrew and I to say "hi" and then promptly told us "bye bye" while running away.  This year, however, I was really looking forward to that week long camp - for both myself (I get a break!) and for Ellie who absolutely loved it last year.

Camp CAMP or Children's Association for Maximum Potential is an organization in Center Point, Texas (near San Antonio) that offers various summer and school-year programs for individuals with disabilities ages 5 - 50 years-old and their siblings.  

I honestly cannot say enough good things about this camp.  Given Ellie's medical conditions and developmental delays, she is not able to attend traditional camp. Camp CAMP has provided her with an amazing camp experience - a place where she can make friends, ride horses, swim, canoe, cook, dance, play sports, and participate in a wide variety of activities.  

hmm. . . I think she has something on her face

Each camp is 1 week long and camp sessions are divided into adults, those with mild intellectual disabilities, medically complex/physical disability/mild ID, and autism.  Ellie was in the medically complex group where she was with kids cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, seizure disorders and other medical conditions.  All of these kids were encouraged to participate in all activities and all activities were adapted for each child.  

I was informed that the ferret was her favorite. 

It was pajama day!

Medical staff are there to meet all medical needs and administer medications, etc.  The staff includes physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, therapists as well as nursing and pharmacy students.  Each camper has at least 1 volunteer assigned to them (some have up to 4 depending on their needs).  The volunteer is with them at all times and will sleep in the climate controlled cabin on the bunk above the camper.  Ellie really connected with her volunteer and I loved knowing that there was someone there to keep her out of trouble! I believe Ellie's session included 98 campers, 150 volunteers, and 40 medical staff (please do not quote me on this as I am trying to remember exactly what they announced at the closing ceremony).  

All ready for the dance.
I have no explanation for the fork.

This year, Ellie absolutely loved swimming. Whether she was in the pool, the splash pad, or tubing - she was quite content to be a mermaid.  Her favorite part of camp was the dance.  She had her hair, nails, and makeup done (and apparently Ellie decided to apply eyeshadow to some of the volunteers) and was decked out in a set of fairy wings.  She also acquired a boyfriend.  Yikes!  She's too young to date!

Ellie was in the girls coyote tribe so they tie-dyed their shirts red and decorated them with puffy paint.

Princess Twinkletoes starts school next Thursday and I think it is perhaps time to get back into a good routine.  I am not looking forward to getting up early again . . . not that The Bear was sleeping in much anyway.  The summer was busy, but I am happy that she got experience overnight camp.